Ethiopia troops defect to Eritrea

Ethiopia troops defect to Eritrea

Ethiopia and Eritrea have reinforced their border military positions At least seven Ethiopian soldiers have defected to Eritrea while on a private training course in Israel, the Israeli foreign ministry has confirmed. The Eritrean ambassador in Israel said the soldiers - reported to be of Eritrean descent - arrived at his house and asked for political asylum. They were then flown to Eritrea on a private plane. Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea are tense and there are fears of a new war over their disputed border. 'Legal' "In Israel we were surprised and we had nothing whatsoever to do with this whole episode," Reuters news agency quotes foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev as saying. "Foreign nationals entered Israel legally and foreign nationals exited Israel legally," he said. These are not the first defections of Ethiopian servicemen this year. In July, three airmen defected to Djibouti - although two were subsequently returned home and the previous month, eight airmen asked for asylum in Belarus. A peace agreement in 2000 ended a war between Ethiopia and Eritrea and led to a ruling on the border by an independent commission. But Ethiopia has not yet withdrawn its forces from the town of Badme, which was awarded to Eritrea. In the past few months, Eritrea has imposed restrictions on the activities of the United Nations peacekeeping force patrolling the border buffer zone and both sides have reinforced their military positions.